Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition with thousands of signatures on the issue of child pornography.

The petitioners are calling on the House to ensure that every law is upheld that would continue to make child pornography a serious offence in this country. Literally hundreds of thousands of signatures have come to my office on this. I am glad to present the petition to the House today.

I encourage all members to take note that this is clearly the single largest petition. I think it is four times larger than any other petition the House has received this session. I will leave it with the House officers.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have the honour to present a petition containing the names of 25 members of my constituency. They call on parliament to amend the Young Offenders Act with respect to, among other things, lowering the age of application and the publishing of names of violent offenders.

Mr. Speaker, the second petition contains several hundred signatures, I believe.

The petitioners are concerned about the proliferation of abortion and the low value that society seems to be giving to prenatal life. The petition calls upon parliament to enact legislation against causing the death of an unborn human by abortion at any stage along the continuum of prenatal life.

I am pleased to present the petition on behalf of the people of Prince George—Bulkley Valley.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present some petitions. The first two petitions are from citizens of Williams Lake and Quesnel, British Columbia. They call upon parliament to enact immediate changes to Canada's immigration laws governing refugees to allow for the deportation of obvious and blatant abusers of the system.

Mr. Speaker, I also have petitions from citizens of Cariboo—Chilcotin, namely from 70 Mile House and Williams Lake. They are calling upon the government to give Canadian taxpayers a break by instituting tax relief of at least 25% in federal taxes over the next three years starting with the next federal budget.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to present petitions from the citizens of Williams Lake who call upon parliament to refrain from enacting legislation to remove references to the name of God or to the supremacy of God from the Canadian constitution or the charter of rights.

Mr. Speaker, I have one more petition from the citizens of the Williams Lake area. They call upon parliament at the earliest possible opportunity to invoke section 33 of the charter of rights and freedoms, the notwithstanding clause, to override the B.C. court of appeal decision and to reinstate subsection 4 of section 163.1 of the criminal code making possession of child pornography in B.C. illegal and by so doing reinforce and reaffirm our objection to the B.C. court of appeal decision.

With respect to the United Nations 1994 recommendation that Canada appoint a monitor to ensure that all provinces folowed the terms of the UN Rights of the Child, what actions has the federal government taken to proceed with this recommendation?

John MaloneyParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its 1995 concluding observations to Canada's first report under the Convention on the Rights of the Child expressed its concern that sufficient attention had not been paid to the establishment of a permanent monitoring mechanism that would enable an effective system of implementation of the convention in all parts of the country. Since that time the Government of Canada has funded the development of a monitoring mechanism by the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children. Since the monitoring project began in February 1996 a growing number of organizations and individuals have contributed their knowledge and ideas. As a result the monitoring framework continues to evolve.

The mandate of the coalition is to ensure a collective voice for Canadian organizations and youth concerned with the rights of children as described in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the World Summit for Children Declaration. Information on this project can be found at the following website: http://www.cfc-efc.ca/ccrc/monitor.htm

The Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children may also be reached at Suite 339, 180 Argyle Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 1B7, or at telephone number (613) 788-5085.